Shteyngart, whose first novel, The Russian Debutante’s Handbook, covered somewhat similar terrain, is himself a Russian Jewish immigrant, though considerably smaller than Misha. We visit with him at his apartment on the Lower East Side to find out where fact ends and fiction begins in his portrayal of expatriate life in the post-Soviet Wild East. Also up for discussion: Nabokov, Oblomov, and the author’s Hasidic neighbors.

Sara Ivry is the host of Vox Tablet, Tablet Magazine's weekly podcast. Follow her on Twitter@saraivry.

WAIT, WHY DO I HAVE TO PAY TO COMMENT?
Tablet is committed to bringing you the best, smartest, most enlightening and entertaining reporting and writing on Jewish life, all free of charge. We take pride in our community of readers, and are thrilled that you choose to engage with us in a way that is both thoughtful and thought-provoking. But the Internet, for all of its wonders, poses challenges to civilized and constructive discussion, allowing vocal—and, often, anonymous—minorities to drag it down with invective (and worse). Starting today, then, we are asking people who'd like to post comments on the site to pay a nominal fee—less a paywall than a gesture of your own commitment to the cause of great conversation. All proceeds go to helping us bring you the ambitious journalism that brought you here in the first place.

I NEED TO BE HEARD! BUT I DONT WANT TO PAY.
Readers can still interact with us free of charge via Facebook, Twitter, and our other social media channels, or write to us at letters@tabletmag.com. Each week, we’ll select the best letters and publish them in a new letters to the editor feature on the Scroll.

We hope this new largely symbolic measure will help us create a more pleasant and cultivated environment for all of our readers, and, as always, we thank you deeply for your support.

Good – I should definitely pronounce, impressed with your websiteI had no trouble navigating through all the tabs and related information ended up being truly easy to do to accessI recently found what I hoped for before you know it in the leastReasonably unusualIs likely to appreciate it for those who add forums or anything, web site theme a tones way for your client to communicateNice task..

Name (required)Email (required, will not be published)Website (optional)

Message

2000

Your comment may be no longer than 2,000 characters, approximately 400 words. HTML tags are not permitted, nor are more than two URLs per comment. We reserve the right to delete inappropriate comments.